It's all over for another year!

It's hard to believe after all the build up in a blink of an eye it's all over for another year!

Having said that I have had a lovely time celebrating with my family and friends which hasn't left much time for running!

I didn't run at all on Christmas Day or Boxing Day although I did manage some walks with the dog so I haven't been totally lazy!

Today I had planned to run the long run stated on my marathon training plan.  I seriously had all good intentions and I had even told Haddie (My run 4 buddy) that I would run for her today but the weather had other ideas!

I couldn't believe it when I woke up this morning feeling seriously sluggish and all I could hear was the rain pelting the windows and the wind blowing around the houses rattling anything that would rattle!  I snuggled back down under my duvet and thought it would calm down in a little while. 

Eventually I ventured out of bed and was by now I was beginning to suffer serious running withdrawal symptoms BUT the weather had no mercy and was gradually getting worse!

The weather man advised not to venture out unless absolutely necessary so for once in my life I decided to be sensible and put running on hold for today.

BUT ... Haddie got a trike for Christmas and she has set a goal to learn to pedal for me so I felt I owed her some miles!  

Treadmill? Swim? Turbo Trainer?

I got a new swimming toy for Christmas called a "Tempo Trainer Pro" so swim it was as it gave me an ideal opportunity to give it a whirl!  The local pool is only a 5 minute drive away so I felt happy risking this!

The "Tempo Trainer Pro" device transmits a beep to help develop a consistent pace and tempo whilst swimming.

There are 3 different modes on it but I decided to go for the basic one that monitors your pace per length.  Before I went I input my critical swim speed of 0.37 seconds per 25 metres to see how I got on.

I got to the Leisure Centre at around 11am and was surprised to see a nearly deserted car park.  I thought with the bad weather every Tom, Dick and Harry would be swimming or in the Gym but it seems everyone else was opting for a sofa day!

I got in the pool, pressed the start button on my gadget and pushed it up under my swim cap where it is supposed to go, then started swimming.

I was amazed to discover for the first few lengths that I was ahead of my goal pace and was making it to the other side before I got the triple beep in my ear.  However, the more lengths I did the slower I got and the beep was soon getting there before me!  However, this spurred me on to beat the beep and I managed to up and maintain my pace so i suppose the gadget does what it says on the packet!

I'm not sure whether anyone else swimming near me could hear the beep or not as it sounded quite loud to me.  Maybe they just thought i was emitting the beep myself!

next time i go I will try and work out how to set the stroke rate and have it beeping at me like a mad thing all the time!  I really will hope no one else can hear it then!

I managed to swim 1900 metres, 76 lengths or 1.18 miles.

It's that time of year again where I set myself a challenge for 2014!!

My immediate thoughts went to Haddie in Hawaii! 

I thought I could run the distance to her in Hawaii during the year -until I Googled the distance and very quickly changed my mind!

However, once the seed had been sown it was something I really wanted to do! 

SO instead of it being a 2014 challenge I have set it as an ongoing target to see how long it takes for me to accomplish.

So from my first run for Haddie on 22nd December 2013 let's see how long it takes me to run to Hawaii!!!

Now THAT'S a challenge!